This invention relates to the supporting of articles/loads including water and/or air driven turbine installations from an upstanding elongate support such as a column or pile.
It is well known to mount turbine installations from an upstanding column or pile so that the turbine installation may be immersed in water for the purposes of driving the turbine, by water flows and/or air flows.
In many situations it is necessary to be able to displace whatever load is being supported by the elongate support lengthways of the elongate support and interconnect i.e., lock the articles/loads against relative displacement lengthways of the elongate support once the articles/load reaches a required position.
As will be understood in relation to water driven turbines such turbines operate whilst submerged. However, it is from time to time necessary to be able to raise the turbine out of water, for example, for maintenance purposes or to adjust the working level of the turbine.
Arrangements for carrying out this type of operation have been disclosed in, for example, our British Patents GB 2311566 “Column Mounted Water Current Turbine”, GB 2347976 “Variable Pitch Water Turbine”, GB 2348250.